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SUMMARY:The Shape and Function of the Nasal Cavity - Michael Brenner (Har
vard University)
DTSTART:20171002T100000Z
DTEND:20171002T110000Z
UID:TALK84641@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:INI IT
DESCRIPTION:The nasal cavity is a vital component of the respiratory syste
m that heats and humidifies inhaled air in all vertebrates. \; In this
talk\, I will describe a recent research program aimed to understand the
peculiarities of the nasal cavity shape\, as it pertains both to evolution
and medicine. The first part of the talk will focus on evolutionary consi
derations: despite the common function of the nasal cavity\, the shapes of
nasal cavities vary widely across animals. We aim to understand this vari
ability by connecting the nasal geometry to its function by theoretically
studying the airflow and the associated scalar exchange that describes hea
ting and humidification. We find that optimal geometries\, which have mini
mal resistance for a given exchange efficiency\, have a constant gap width
between their side walls\, but their overall shape is restricted only by
the geometry of the head. This provides an explanation for \;the geom
etric variations of natural nasal cavities quantitatively. The second part
of the talk focuses on medical diagnostics\; with a nasal surgeon we are
trying to understand the consequences and effects of nasal surgery. The fl
ow in the nose is at a sufficiently small scale that it has never been dir
ectly measured. Working with a computational scientist we use CT scans of
the human nasal cavity to compute internal fluid flows and then study thei
r characteristics. [Work joint with David Zwicker (SEAS\, Harvard)\; Rodo
lfo Ostillo Monico (SEAS\, Harvard)\; Daniel Lieberman (Human and Evolutio
nary Biology\, Harvard)\; Simone Melichionna (Rome) and Robin Lindsay (Mas
s. Eye & Ear)
LOCATION:Seminar Room 2\, Newton Institute
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